Wednesday, September 19, 2007

More on the Environment

It seems that environmental issues and organic living are popular topics these days! I sometimes read this blog** and she recently posted a link to this article about a family who believes that organic farming is the way to fulfill the Biblical mandate.

These questions were raised:

Do you agree or disagree with this family's view of environmental stewardship?

I agree (as I previously wrote) with the general concept of environmental stewardship. I believe it is clear that we are to take an active role in conserving and caring for the earth. God set forth these mandates in Genesis (see Genesis 1 & 2 especially). I sincerely appreciate that they are looking beyond the health benefits and looking at how best to protect and manage the world entrusted to us. It was hard to tell how much the article was slanted to portray this family as ultra-conservative wackos. :) To the extent that they "believe the Bible demands an organic or natural approach to agriculture" as a tenant (or essential) of the Christian faith, I disagree. I also feel that their attitude towards insects was strange.

Do you think that promoting organic foods and good nutrition are tenants of a Christian lifestyle?

The 6th commandment is "thou shall not murder." The implication (or positive) of this commandment is that we are to preserve life. I believe that part of preserving life is caring for our bodies. I do think that promoting healthy living is an important aspect of Christian living but perhaps it goes a little far to call eating nutritious, organic food a "tenant of a Christian lifestyle". And, as I have said before, good eating and nutrition will look different for every family. Not everyone can afford to buy all organic foods and some do not feel that it is necessary but I definitely don't believe this means that they are failing to live a Christian lifesyle.

Oh, I really liked this description/definition in the aforementioned article, "Organic agriculture emphasizes crop rotation, composting and the use of animal manures, avoiding chemical fertilizers and pesticides that organic farmers say contaminate food, wildlife and the environment." As an aside, we have not been able to start a compost - when we tried, our dog went out and ate the things on the compost and was sick. The carpet suffered and...you get the idea.

One of the things I'm most disturbed about is that many, many people I know choose to eat healthy but don't think about the environment much at all. I mean it's all well and good to be healthy but what good is it going to do us if the world is falling apart. I really think nutritious living and being eco-friendly go hand in hand. So, next time you go to the store ask for paper instead of plastic or better yet, bring your own bags. :)

The other thing I really don't understand is why the city charges for recycling. This makes no sense to me - wouldn't more people recycle if it were free and easy? Our solution is to just drive our recyclables to a donation bin (we are trying to do better about this).

**While I appreciate some of the views expressed by this blog, I disagree with others.

3 comments:

FYI, you can buy a composter (here's an example: http://www.4seasongreenhouse.com/feelgood-gallon-composting-p-1488.html?gclid=COfR9-GS044CFQGnPAod-w9o-g) that seal so that dog noses can't get into them! We don't have one yet because we are still renting. But it is high on my list when we get a new house (and have a garden!)

Hey Alaina! Great posts of recent on the environment. I'm a huge advocate of "green living" but yet a conservative(go figure). It's awesome to see more and more conservatives seeing the value of protecting our environment. You might be interested in this website.